3.5 year old DS wants to "read" Superhero comic books .... WWYD?

[Tuesday]

Just curious about your thoughts on this one:

DS and I visit the library several times a week and he loves books. Our household rarely watches t.v. and DS hasn't ever watched a movie beyond an occasional 40 minute video. But he was given Spiderman and Superman underwear to entice him to use the potty so now he's become interested in all things Superhero.

At Christmas time, he got a little Superman car and I've been printing out Super hero colouring pages which he enjoys. I didn't really think when he asked me to look for a Superman book at the library. I was really happy (I'm a voracious reader that loves books) when I could show him the online catalogue and help him find his own Superman book in the library. He found some comics and I thought they were harmless (I haven't read them myself). I flipped through one and it looked okay so I thought it would be a novel thing to sign out a comic book. He really enjoyed the colourful pictures, the small size and the whole connection between the images in the comic and on his underpants! When he asked me to read the comic, I just made up my own gentle story.

But, now, every trip to library, he runs to the comic book shelf and tries to find a Marvel hero book. Spiderman, Batman, X-Man, etc etc. I guess the first book we signed out was an aberration because the rest he's grabbed have a lot of scary images, guns, not to mention chauvinistic attitudes and language. I recall my brother enjoying comic books and I didn't think much of it until the librarian asked me if I really wanted my son to look at these comics. So then I thought it best to tell him he couldn't sign out these books. I told him he wasn't allowed to sign out the books until he was older. He's very spirited and intense and he now throws a huge tantrum at the library when I deny him a comic book. In attempt to make peace, I signed him out a Donald Duck comic book but even that had scary images! Can you believe it ? Goofy had the hiccups and Mickey suggested they visit a haunted house to scare Goofy and thus cure him of hiccups! I turned the pages and there were ghouls and scary monsters galore!

But, I really blundered today - I'm Canadian and I read about a comic book called Captain Canuck. According to the article I read, Captain Canuck (Canadian version of Superman) is "polite" and the stories are non-violent. Based on what I'd read, I let him take home the book without first checking it out. What a goof-up! I looked at the comic at home and saw a lot of scary figures carrying guns. The story line is completely inappropriate I hid the book until I can return it. He's been asking for it all night and will, I know, ask for it again when he wakes up tomorrow.

I've not really seen any discussion about young children looking at comic books. What are your thoughts about letting your young children "read" or look at the Marvel and DC Comics books. Just curious. Thank you.

[BusyMommy]

I'm sure I'l get flamed but I don't have any issues w/most of the super hero magazines. We read them together and talk about them. My kids (4 & 5) love readin the graphic novels and I do believe they're learning about plot, characters, resolution, etc etc but just w/Superman rather than Charlotte's Web.

[Ruthla]

If it were my child, I'd probably allow it but look at the books WITH him and discuss anything that doesn't mesh with your values. If there ends up being more stuff you don't agree with than stuff you do, or the images frighten him, then talk to him about why you don't think these are good books for him and help him select something more appropriate.

Are there any comics aimed at children he might be happy with? I remember once my kids checked out a Kim Possible comic book and that was pretty harmless. The heros are high school studends (Kim is a cheerleader and her sidekick Ron Stoppable is a fellow student, but less "cool") and the villians are all pretty stupid and they all kind of laugh at themselves. Nobody gets seriously hurt, there are strong male and female characters on both the bad and good sides, and it doesn't get any more sexual than the occasional kiss.

[jake&zaxmom]

There seems to be some "comic code" that tells you if the comic is "appropriate for all ages" or "young adult" or if it contains "graphic scenes" but I have yet to figure it out. The DC comics have different colored logos in the upper (left??) corner and I think that they are a form of rating system but I haven't deciphered it yet.

When I first started to Google comics for my then 5 year old, I read that any book that had a CCA (Comic Code Authority-I think) seal on the cover would be appropriate for any age. I read the code and it was incredibly restrictive, so much so that I KNEW that any book with that code would be just fine for him. Well, the information about the CCA was outdated or just plain wrong because I have found terrible things in books with that seal on it. Profanity, sexual situations, extreme violence, etc. It seems that they ALL have that seal on them.

I have found some Teen Titans Go! books that were passable, but they contained zit jokes, potty humor that irks me to no end. I ended up ordering him some books off of ebay-Batman in the Forties, Batman in the Fifties, and Batman in the Sixties. They are compilations of comics released during those decades. I haven't read them cover to cover but found them benign when I flipped through them. I think that they have a Superman in the __'s series as well-but my kid is really into Batman.

[Sagesgirl]

I couldn't take sitting down and reading a comic book to a child, but I'd certainly give my kids comics to look at--they're nonreaders, but they do love to tell a story vaguely related to the pictures. They do that with all picture books. In all honesty, I think stuff like The X-Men has some great stuff to say about racism & antiSemitism and the like.

I'd buy them their own, though, not check something out from the library. But that's 'cause mine are fairly destructive still.

[Tuesday]

Thanks, everyone, for your helpful replies. I took the suggestion about the compilations of comic books from 1940s, 1950s and found one in our library's online catalogue (Superman in the Forties); I think the compilation will be a good compromise. I will be happier if the material is more benign and DS will get his Superhero fix. I actually wanted to encourage the love of comic books if only to expose DS to different types of reading material (books, newspapers, comic books, graphic novels, etc. etc.). Thanks so much for your feedback!

[~member~]

Calvin and Hobbes!!!!

[stik]

Marvel specifically labels some of its books for young readers. Lately, we've enjoyed _Power Pack_.

Your local comic shop (check the phone book) should also be able to help you find some indie hits like _Amelia Rules_, and _HeroBear and Kid_.

I'd be careful with reprints of early comics. The Comics Code of America has been watered down a lot over the years. However, before it was adopted in the 1950s, comics were much more violent. For example, Batman shot people. Also, The CCA never addressed violence and sexuality, but didn't touch on racism.

[swngrrl]

Geek hat on: Silver age comics are pretty harmless. Mostly due to the McCarthy politics of the time. A visit to your local comic shop is probally the best advice. There are quite a few comics marketed to younger kids, though like Teen Titans, they're intended for the 7-10 age.

Mom hat on: Superhero play at 3-4 years is completely normal and expected. Lots of parents ignore it or ban it. Really (IMO), it should be facilitated. We do lots of WWJD around here - that's "What Would Jedi Do?". My now 4 year old is very big into both Star Wars and superheroes. This is the age when kids start experimenting with the us vs them ideas. Boys vs Girls. Good vs Bad. Alive vs Dead. Us vs "the monsters" and the like. You've probably seen quite abit of this already. If we facilitate this play, then we can turn the "other" into something to empathize with instead. Asking questions such as "well, why is XXX bad? What kind of underwear do you think Superman wears. What did that monster eat for breakfast today? Do you think Batman has a dog?" These humanize a very abstract concept that our kids are exploring. There's a book by an early childhood educator (forget his name) that explores this further. PM me if you'd like the name and I'll see if I can dig it out.

Oh, guns. Guns are so interesting in play. Children will create guns out of absolutely anything. Why? It's a simple answer, really. It's a symbol. Funny thing is, we adults interpret it as a symbol of violence and pain. Children see images of guns many times a day (scary!), and to them, it's a symbol of power. When we say "no guns" we are in essence saying "no power for you!". If guns are uncomfortable, then we have to provide alternative power symbols for our children. The superhero book talks to that more as well.

Heck, I think I may have to dig the info out.

[folkypoet]

(ETA: I'm providing links to lots of these so you can see if they're something your son would enjoy. You may feel that some of these probably wouldn't be appropriate for him yet, but they'll give you an idea of what's out there for when he's older.)

We started the comic thing when Kenzie was about four. He wasn't wanting the scary, gory, sex-infused comics they make for adults, but he did enjoy the superhero theme. So, we visited a well-stocked local comic store and came away with lots of treasures. Our favorite, by far, was Herobear and the Kid by Mike Kunkel. In fact, I still have a Herobear poster on the wall above the computer.

We also discovered Patrick the Wolf Boy, Awesome Man, Zoom's Academy for the Super Gifted (yes, it was a comic before it was a movie), Amelia Rules, Growing Up Enchanted, Ug: Boy Genius of the Stone Age, and Gus Beezer.

He also loved Casper, Wendy, Richie Rich, Spidey Super Stories (put out by Marvel and The Electric Company in the 70's), Alf, The Jetsons, The Simpsons, etc. You can often find these in large lots on ebay.

More recently, he's been reading Bone, Asterix, and Tintin, as well as abridged graphic adaptations of classic novels called Pocket Classics (we find them in thrift stores and used book stores - we've collected about 45 so far).

And, we have tons of cartoons - Calvin and Hobbes, Fox Trot, Bloom County, Leviathan, Far Side, Doonesbury, Peanuts, etc. Calvin and Hobbes would be my first suggestion - the strips are short and the payoff is big. And Calvin is such a cool kid! He's intelligent, outgoing, imaginative, strong-willed and fun. There are entire strips devoted to dinosaurs and space rangers. He can go back in time or shrink himself to the size of a bug. He builds amazing snowmen. And, he owns a fierce talking tiger. What more can you ask?

Also, he loves Larry Gonick (as do my husband and I): The Cartoon History of the Universe, The Cartoon History of America, The Cartoon Guide to _____ series....

I guess we do lots of comics/cartoons around here. I'd say that, more than anything, comics and cartoons are what inspired Kenzie to learn to read. He's taken off since then, and at nine, he's reading anything he can get his hands on - from Tolkien to American history to Greek mythology to science books!

But he still loves comics.